Angel in the Frame
by MarauderTielle
Summary: James Potter has just started his sixth year as a Gryffindor at Hogwarts: he's well liked among his peers and most of the students would love to date him. However, his world is spun upside down after realising he has a crush on a Ravenclaw girl who's not interested in him at all. Can he change her mind? [Warnings: swearing, sexual innuendo. Please don't read if either offend you.]
1. Welcome Back To Hogwarts

**Chapter One  
Welcome Back To Hogwarts**

Hogsmeade Station filled with students after the Hogwarts Express had boarded in Hogsmeade station, and masses of children and teenagers were fighting their way through the crowds to get to the self-pulling carriages.

James Potter's father had always told him that a magical winged creature called a Thestral pulled the carriages and that you could see these Thestrals if you'd seen death. James never wanted to be able to see them in the sense that witnessing death didn't appeal to him, so he had therefore gone along with the myth of the carriages being charmed to move without help.

The oldest Potter boy entered a carriage already containing some Hufflepuff girls in his year that he didn't mind all that much along with two of his best friends (and also his cousins) Fred and Dominique Weasley, who were also two of his fellow sixth years.

Nikki (as Dominique preferred to be called) automatically got into a conversation with the Hufflepuffs about their summers and naturally moved aside to make room as some Gryffindor boys in the year below them filed into the carriage alongside them.

Soon enough, the carriage headed off towards Hogwarts and the journey flew by in no time when they realised they were almost at the school gates already.

"How about you, boys?" Iris Moore, one of the Hufflepuff girls, asked, looking towards James and Fred – both of whom had been eavesdropping on the conversation being upheld by the younger Gryffindors about Fred's younger sister.

"Huh?" Fred asked, snapping over to the girls' conversation.

"Your summer," Iris established.

"Oh, yeah, it was good," Fred replied, nodding slowly. "Sapphire broke up with me, but I got over that quickly enough."

Nikki glared at her cousin, still slightly annoyed at his attitude towards his break up with her best friend, but kept her mouth closed so as not to start a scene. She and Freddie were practically always at each other's throats, yet somehow they still classed each other as close friends.

"Mine was good, too," James said, diverting the awkward silence in which everybody had been waiting for Nikki and Freddie to start a brawl in the middle of the carriage.

"Are you still with your girlfriend?" another of the Hufflepuffs, Chloe Fawcett, asked James. It was hard to tell whether she was saying it because she was hoping he'd say no, or just out of plain curiosity. Most girls in Hogwarts would have a hard time saying they'd honestly never considered James as more then a friend.

"Nah, that ended ages ago. I started going out with another girl afterwards, but that's completely over too."

Thankful that the conversation went back to Nikki and the Hufflepuffs while they talked about their love lives, Fred and James exchanged an eye roll between them, and continued eavesdropping on the Gryffindor boys, whose conversation was still on Roxy Weasley – Fred's year-younger sister who'd surprisingly been sorted into Hufflepuff.

The boys obviously hadn't realised that Fred was there. Luckily, they didn't have anything horrible to say, or Fred probably would have caused some kind of big-brotherly homicidal rampage. Nobody ever had anything bad to say about Roxy, really. She was too sweet and down-to-Earth for any negative attention.

The students of Hogwarts were soon seated at their House tables, ready for the sorting ceremony. When it had finally started, both James and Fred were quietly messing around while the ceremony proceeded. As soon as they heard Professor Flitwick, the Deputy Head call out, "Weasley, Louis," they soon perked up and watched closely as their younger cousin, and Nikki's little brother, walked up to the stool and had the hat placed upon his head.

After no less than twenty seconds of silent waiting – one of the longer ones – the Sorting Hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!" and the look of plain happiness on the first year's face was evident.

"GO LOU!" Fred called out as the Gryffindor table erupted into applause and the little one ran towards the table, almost tripping twice, and sat next to his sister who gave him a one-armed hug and a kiss on the head.

Two more students were sorted after Louis before the feast finally appeared on the tables, and ravenous eleven to eighteen year-olds all dug in, stuffing their faces with the best food they'd ever tasted.

William Rosendale, James and Fred's other best friend with whom they had no relation, moved up the table to sit with them after having abandoned both of them to sit with his girlfriend, Holly, who was a Gryffindor in their year. "Hey!" he greeted, squeezing himself between James and Nikki (who huffed at the boy's rudeness before continuing to talk to Sapphire), "Sorry I missed you on the train, I was with Holls."

"We know, we were mocking you the whole way here," Fred replied casually.

"Thanks, man," Will replied sarcastically, slapping his friend on the back. "But seriously, I can't get enough of her. She's just so amazing."

James made a gagging noise in the back of his throat and rolled his eyes. "Don't fall for her, mate, it'll be a stupid mistake."

"Too late," Will replied, shrugging. "So if it goes to shit, you both have the full right to say 'I told you so', deal?"

"Deal. As long as you stop talking like a mush bucket."

"Fine. No girl talk."

"I never said no girl talk," James clarified, "Just no soppy-love-crap girl talk. But, say I commented on Arianna Tomkins or Khloe King's ass... that would be acceptable." The aforementioned girls were both Slytherins in their year. Though they didn't like them as people, they couldn't deny that the girls were incredibly good looking.

"Say something, Nikki?" Fred asked, fully aware of the fact that she'd just coughed, "Pigs," at them.

"Yes. I said you're pigs. And you know it's the truth so don't even attempt to defend yourselves. And just, while I'm here, Rosendale," she looked towards Will with a serious expression, "Holly's one of my best friends and I swear to Merlin's saggy left testicle that if you hurt her in any way, I will find no shame in castrating you with a painfully blunt object. Okay?" Then she smiled as though she hadn't just threatened him and sweetly added, "But you're both adorable together, congrats!"

The three boys just exchanged confused glances between themselves, never having understood how Nikki could be so hostile one second and sweet the next.

The excited atmosphere in the Great Hall was starting to fade as the students grew tired and many were already leaving their tables for an early night, or finding siblings in different years or houses to bid them goodnight.

James's little sister, Lily (who was just starting her third year), appeared behind her oldest brother and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, Lils. Enjoy the feast?"

"I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life," she replied, grinning.

"You seem happy," he commented.

"Yeah, Francesca just told me that Billy Daniels has a crush on me." The younger girl giggled as Francesca caught up to her.

"What? Who the _fuck_ is Billy Daniels?" James asked, getting all big-brother on her.

Lily just rolled her eyes and kissed her brother on the cheek, saying, "Night, Jamie," and then leaving with Francesca and a gaggle of giggling third-year Gryffindor girls who'd caught up to them.

James complained about his sister's growing up too fast for a good five minutes to Fred before he saw his brother, Albus, start walking past them and called his name, beckoning him over. "Al, do you know who Billy Daniels is?"

"Yeah, Lily pointed him out to me earlier."

"What's his deal?"

"James, Lily is thirteen. You were _eleven _when you had your first proper crush."

"That's different."

"Not unless different means the same. Just leave them alone, he seems like a decent kid." And with that, Albus Potter continued walking off towards his dormitory.

Fred, James and Will were practically the last people in the Hall and decided to call it a night after Holly walked over to them with her friend, and the last of the four Gryffindor sixth years, Ingrid Law. "We're going up now, are you coming?"

Will shot up immediately, and took his girlfriend's hand as she started walking from the Great Hall; Ingrid, Fred and James in their tow.

"I hate being the third wheel," Ingrid huffed, her words heard by neither Will nor Holly because they were too busy in deep mushy conversation to hear anything but each other.

"Maybe you and Will can swap friendship groups. As long as you can accept gentle but affectionate bullying," Fred joked.

"If they get any more overindulgent I'm definitely holding you to that offer," she replied sulkily, crossing her arms and pulling back a little so she was walking with the two boys. "I'm pretty sure Holly's forgotten about my existence since she started dating him."

"Is it me, or so I sense jealousy?" James asked teasingly, grinning at Ingrid because he'd actually realised.

"Of course I'm jealous, I haven't had a boyfriend for almost a year," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Everyone notices Holly first; I don't even get a look in."

"I don't see why," Fred replied, shrugging, "I think you're both equally attractive."

James nodded in agreement before adding, "Holly's just always had a way of subtly demanding to be noticed. You seem a little reserved in comparison... in the nicest way possible, of course. Please don't hit me."

Ingrid sighed in defeat and shook her head. "Then I guess I'll be alone forever. I'm not changing who I am for attention."

"Now _that_ attitude will get you noticed. I mean, if you weren't Isaac's ex, I'm sure most of his friends, including us, would have hit on you by now," Fred said, unabashed.

Ingrid laughed a little in disbelief and shook her head. "Not likely, but thanks for trying. Anyway, I'm taking a detour, see you tomorrow."

"Okay," Fred replied, "See ya."

"Bye," James said in departure, before turning to his cousin. "I didn't suspect a thing until you said about Isaac's friends hitting on her."

Isaac, one of the boys' dorm mates and Ingrid's ex, was probably the nicest of all the Gryffindor boys and usually stuck with Elijah Thurman, the boys' fifth and final dorm mate. They were good friends, but hardly saw each other out of class or away from Gryffindor Tower.

"What are you talking about?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't play dumb, you _so _like her."

"Do not," Fred muttered, shoving his best friend a little and digging his hands in his pockets as they climbed the last staircase. "Fine. So what if I _do_ like her? What's not to like?"

James just grinned at his triumph of figuring something out by himself and remained quiet as they followed Holly and Will through the portrait hole.

Boy, was it good to be back.

* * *

**A/N - Here's the first chapter of the new fic I've been working on in my absence. I'm hoping to update it as often as I can - if not, feel free to pester me with reminders to update! Please review, I like feedback! -Ti**


	2. Timetables

**Chapter Two**  
**Timetables**

After falling asleep pretty much as soon as his head hit the pillow at around eleven that night, James awoke the next morning feeling every bit as tired as he had upon getting into bed – despite the ten hour sleep.

As soon as he'd forced himself to sit up and swing his legs off the side of the bed, he picked up a shoe lying next to his bedside cabinet and launched it in Fred's general direction. It was a direct hit to the boy's torso and he shot up.

"Rise and shine," James grumbled, getting up and walking towards the bathroom for a quick shower while his cousin muttered profanities at him for the abrupt (and verging on violent) wake up call.

James got dressed after his shower and brushed his teeth while Fred cleaned up in the curtained shower behind him. "Hoping to see Ingrid today?" he called through his toothpaste foam over the noise of the running water. He could almost sense Fred rolling his eyes.

"Would you just let that go?"

"Nope," James replied simply, "I don't see why you don't just go for it."

"Isaac. That's why."

"Talk to him, I'm sure he'll be fine with it. I mean, come on, it's Isaac." James rinsed off his toothbrush, spat the toothpaste out and brushed away the remainder before spitting again and drying his mouth on a towel. "Mate?"

"Not gonna happen."

"What if I talk to him for you?"

"No, I don't want anyone knowing. Please just drop it."

"Fine, my lips are sealed. I'll wait for you in the dorm."

* * *

When Fred was ready to go, the two (who were without Will because, according to Elijah, he'd already left with Holly) started the journey to the Great Hall, wanting to eat breakfast and get their timetables. They'd barely made it to the portrait hole when they were caught up with by Dominique and Ingrid.

They expressed their individual greetings before continuing towards the Great Hall while upholding a conversation about what subjects they wanted to take.

That conversation was cut short, however, when a Slytherin in the year above them barged past them, bumping into Ingrid hard enough for her to get knocked to the ground.

"Nice one, asshole!" Fred called out to the culprit, immediately leaning over to help the girl up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she replied, wincing a little as she felt an oncoming bruise on her bum after being helped up, "It'll probably just bruise a little, I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? That was quite a fall..."

"I'll be fine," she repeated, smiling a little despite the minor injury, "Thanks for the concern, though."

"No problem," he replied, determinedly avoiding looking at James because he already knew that his expression would be annoyingly smug.

They reached the Great Hall soon after and seated themselves at the end of the Gryffindor table with Will and Holly. Ingrid shifted uncomfortably until she found a position which didn't put too much weight on the part of her bum she fell on while the others told them about the stupid Slytherin who'd knocked her over.

The topic changed back to the subjects that they wanted to take as they saw their Head of House, Professor Sparks, heading up the table and giving other students their timetables.

Sparks was one of the favourite teachers among the students, because she was fair. Not too strict but definitely not too soft, and she was young as well – probably around twenty six or twenty seven. Most of the school's straight male population chose Astronomy when it was no longer compulsory just because she taught it.

"I'm really looking forward to taking some extra-curricular activities this year," Holly announced out of the blue, smiling because of her strong thirst for knowledge. She could give the Ravenclaws a run for their money in most subjects; unlike the other Gryffindor sixth-years who just tried their best and accepted the outcome.

"What are you planning on taking?" Nikki asked, though a muffled mouthful of toast that made the others wrinkle their noses at her a little.

Holly answered anyway. "I'm taking most of the Muggle subjects. Muggle Studies, of course, Muggle Music, Muggle Art and then some subjects focusing mainly on improving my magical abilities. Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Alchemy..." She then proceeded to list off about seven more subjects and didn't notice when James and Fred caught each other's eyes and faked exaggerated yawns.  
Nikki, however, noticed them being rude and kicked them both under the table, making their shins scream in pain.

"How are you even going to fit in all of those subjects?" Will asked, looking a little confused.

"While you'll all have finished for the day, I'll still have two lessons left. I sent Professor Sparks an owl over the summer asking her if I could have extra slots in my timetable for this year."

"You actually want more lessons?" Fred asked in disbelief, "You're crazy."

"Wait," Will interjected, "That means we won't be able to spend as much time together..."

"I'll be all yours at four thirty every weekday," she replied hopefully, smiling at him sweetly. "And we'll see each other all the time at weekends when I'm not studying."

He still didn't look too happy, but he obviously couldn't resist her 'cute face' as he called it. "I guess we can make it work," he replied as though it pained him greatly, before kissing her passionately.

"I think my breakfast is about to make a reappearance," Fred muttered.

"Rosendale, Corbett," Sparks said in a firm warning voice as she finally reached the end of the table, though she looked like she found the PDA humorous rather than annoying or disgusting.

"Sorry, Professor," Holly muttered, turning away from her boyfriend to face their Head of House and not managing to hide the blush that had crept to her cheeks.

"No need for an apology, I remember what it's like to have a boyfriend at sixteen. I ended up marrying mine. But still, we were forever in trouble with Professor McGonagall for excessive kissing; though that was when she had my job, now she's my boss."

Holly's face lit up when Sparks mentioned that she married her school boyfriend, but Will's expression was unreadable.

"Anyway," Sparks continued, "I came to give you your timetables. I'll start with you, Holly. Are you sure you want to take extra subjects this year?"

"I'm positive," she replied.

The two proceeded to sort out Holly's timetable before Sparks moved on to sort out everyone else's.

James and Fred who were seated at the very end of the table were last to receive theirs. "Mr Potter, Mr Weasley," Sparks started, "Shall we aim to go for a whole year without you being sent to my office? I can't remember the time when a week went by without at least one of you gracing me with your presence."

Fred and James couldn't hide their proud grinning at their trouble-making abilities. "We'll try our best, Professor."

Sparks smiled fondly and got back to the subject of timetables. "What do you boys have in mind for this year, then?"

"We're sticking with the subjects we did last year," Fred replied. "But we're desperate to find out when Apparition lessons are."

"Not until the end of March or the beginning of April, I'm afraid. But here are your timetables and I hope to see a lot less of you both this year." She handed them their individual timetables. "Also, if any latecomers come in, tell them to come and find me for their timetables."

"Sure," James said, looking down to his timetable to see what was in store for him. "Muggle Studies with the Ravenclaws," he commented, looking at the box for Thursday, Period One.

Fred, who had the exact same timetable shrugged, "Could be worse, we could have Potions first. I bet we have it with Slytherin again."

"Uh..." James consulted the timetable, "Hey, we only have the Ravenclaws for Potions this year!"

"Maybe sixth year will be better than I originally expected," Fred replied, smiling widely. "What do you guys have first?"

Everyone except Dominique and Will replied, "Muggle Studies."

"You two aren't taking Muggle Studies this year?" Ingrid asked them.

"Nope. I have Care of Magical Creatures first," Nikki said, frowning a little. "With the bloody Slytherins."

"Me too," Will noted. "At least neither of us will be on our own."

"Nikki and Wills, kicking Slytherin's Arse since 2021. That should be our slogan," Dominique said, laughing a little.

Holly looked a little uncomfortable about the fact that her boyfriend would be sharing three lessons a week with Nikki, who was easily the most beautiful girl in their year – if not the entire school. She was part Veela, so it was only to be expected, really. Holly didn't say anything, though. She didn't want everyone to think she was possessive.

The others left around the same time for their lessons at about twenty past eight, leaving Fred and James to continue picking at the food on the table and filling themselves up as much as possible, since they wouldn't be able to eat again until lunch.

The two polished off a bowl of fresh strawberries before wiping their hands on their trousers. Fred proceeded to hit James on the chest to get his attention even though he already had it. "We should get going, it's almost half eight." He must have been right, because the remaining Professors were shepherding the last handful of students from the Hall so they'd get to their lessons on time.

"Good idea."

Luckily, they reached the classroom entrance exactly as the last two Ravenclaws in the line, Maya Hills and Caroline Seabrook, entered the small classroom.

"Made it," Fred muttered proudly, high-fiving his cousin before taking a seat next to him at the last remaining table behind the two Ravenclaw girls they'd followed inside – which happened to be second from the front and almost directly under Professor Franks' nose.

"This year," Franks started in his normally hoarse voice, sounding every bit as old as his grey hair implied, "We will be going further in-depth about Muggles and their every day lives, hobbies, jobs and probably anything else you can think of concerning Muggles. I will also be putting into place a new classroom rule: Zero Tolerance. If you disrupt my lesson for an unworthy reason-" He looked pointedly in the direction of Fred and James, "-you will be sent straight to your Head of House without so much as a second chance. Is that clear?"

Mutters of, "Yes, sir," came from around the room not quite in sync, and Franks smiled stiffly.

"Good. Now let's begin. Today we're looking at how Muggles communicate using modern technology."

"Boy, is this going to be a fun lesson," James muttered to Fred almost inaudibly.  
Nodding, Fred sighed and started writing notes on some parchment in his scruffy ink-splattered scrawl.

Ten minutes before the end of the lesson, Franks asked them to pack up and remain seated, which the students did without question since none of them really wanted to visit Sparks or, for the Ravenclaws, Professor Hannigan – the Ravenclaw Head of House. Not on their first lesson of their first day back, anyway.

"Now," Franks said, when they were all seated and ready to go, "I'm going to assign you your Term One project now. You have six weeks to complete it before it's due in, and you'll be working with the person currently sitting next to you." He proceeded to tell them about the project, which was centred around Muggle phones. "No excuses, no corner-cutting, no extensions. Understood?"

Some students nodded, others agreed verbally.

"Brilliant. You're dismissed."

* * *

**A/N - Sorry for the late update. Just finished my exams though so I have a load of free time on my hands now. Reviews are highly appreciated! -Ti**


	3. Ravenclaw

**Chapter Three  
Ravenclaw**

Leaving the Muggle Studies classroom, Ingrid and Holly caught up to James and Fred, who'd managed to make a quick escape. Maybe sitting under Franks' nose – right next to the door – wasn't such a bad thing after all. "Do you two have a free period now, as well?" Holly asked, pointing to the slot on her timetable that said she had a one.

James pulled out his own timetable and looked at Thursday's Period Two. "Yep! What are you both doing?"

"We _were _planning to just chill out in the Common Room, but now we're going to the library to get started on that stupid project thing," Ingrid replied.

Fred automatically shot an almost begging look at James, as though asking if they could go there with them. James just rolled his eyes in defeat before saying, "We were actually planning to do the same thing. If we sit together, we can share ideas. It's not copying if we phrase things differently, right?"

"Not a bad idea," Holly replied, laughing a little before changing the subject a little. "I think, of the whole school, I've missed the library the most."

"It's ironic how you say that when the last time Fred and I were there, we were screamed at before being kicked out."

"What?" Ingrid asked, sounding like she found that situation humorous, "How do you two even manage these things?"

"Well," Fred started getting into the conversation before James could tell the story, "We thought it'd be fun to take in some food so we could study and snack at the same time, which we were getting away with just fine, and then this idiot here-" He nudged James "-Goes and drops his slice of pizza _upside down _on, of every book in the place, a very rare and ancient one. Madame Miles went ballistic and started yelling at us in Spanish before shooing us from the room."

Ingrid and Holly started giggling at the story which, judging by Fred's face, boosted his ego a little.

"It was probably in my top five favourite moments ever," James added, nodding.

When they reached the library, they found a table for four and sat down together. It looked like most of the Ravenclaws in their class had the same idea, considering the six-seater next to them had filled with the majority of the Ravenclaws taking Muggle Studies: Maya Hills, Alyssa Hamilton, Caroline Seabrook, Nathan Sherwood and Joey Felix. The five were usually seen together with one of the Hufflepuff boys, Jeremiah Lewis because he was Alyssa's cousin once removed, or something along those lines.

"I'll go and find some books," said James after the four had had a small discussion about how they were going to all work together without churning out the same work.

When he'd found the Muggle section, which was already occupied by Alyssa, he scanned through the shelf to get some books on phones. As he reached over to grab a book titled _Muggle Telephones and How They Work_, Alyssa's hand came into contact with his and they both backtracked very quickly.

"Sorry," James apologised, gesturing for her to take it. "It's all yours."

"No, no, it's okay. You take it," she replied quietly, having always been one of the shy ones – though she always seemed far more outgoing when she was around her friends.

"Really, you can have it."

"How about we make a deal? If you get me down that book from up there that I can't reach, this one's all yours."

"Sounds good to me," James replied, reaching up and getting the book she'd pointed to. "This one?"

"Yep, that one."

James passed the book to her, which she thanked him for, and he took the one that had started the whole thing. "Pleasure doing business with you, Miss Hamilton," he said politely, smiling and mock-curtseying for comedic value.

Alyssa just laughed lightly and returned the smile. "The pleasure was all mine, Mr Potter," she replied in the same polite accent. "Good luck with your project, anyway," she added, her voice going back to normal, and slightly louder now she didn't feel as uncomfortable.

"Thanks. You too." He smiled briefly in departure before heading back over to his table, where his friends were all watching him intently

"What was that about?" Ingrid asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Over there with Hamilton," she clarified.

"Oh, that. Nothing, really. We were just trying to decide who got the book we both reached for," he said, shrugging.

"What was with the grin on your way back, then?"

"It was funny. What do you even care?" James snapped, having no idea why he was suddenly in a bad mood. Probably because he hadn't even realised he'd been grinning until Ingrid mentioned it.

The girl in question raised her hands in mock-surrender before returning them to their crossed position on the table and giving James a pointed look. "Someone's a little tetchy..."

James sighed. "Sorry."

"Apology accepted. Now, let's get on with this before we die of old age."

* * *

The free period felt like it was over as soon as it had started, and James was almost ashamed that he'd found the project rather enjoyable so far. Maybe it was just because he found Muggle life interesting – or it could have been that the very brief encounter with a certain Ravenclaw girl had left him in a fantastic mood for the remainder of the day.

He and the other Gryffindors who had third period Arithmancy with the Slytherins headed off for the stated classroom, meeting up with Nikki and Will for the first time since breakfast. (Will and Holly's reunion was verging on extreme PDA and left the others looking a little horrified at their lack of privacy.)

That lesson went horrifically slowly, and twice did Arianna Tomkins decide to ask stupidly obvious questions out loud, making the whole class desire nothing more than to hit her across the face with a wet fish for being so stupid. The worst thing was that nobody knew whether she was actually as thick as shit or just pretending to be.

After James and Fred had refilled their stomachs at lunch (obviously not worrying at all about nutritional values or serving sizes because they literally emptied most of the platters that were placed out on the table between them), they checked their timetables to find they had their next two lessons – Potions and Herbology – with the Ravenclaws.

For a reason unknown to him, James thought back to Alyssa and felt almost excited about the fact that she'd probably be taking both of those subjects again this year – meaning he'd be able to spend another two periods in her distant company. And the fact that he didn't know why that thought made him happy bugged the boy greatly. He'd barely even noticed her over the last six years, so why now? And it wasn't like he could just talk to her once and develop a _crush_. James Potter did not, under any circumstance, get crushes on people.

"Hello? Anybody in there?" Fred asked loudly in a sing-song voice, waving his hands in front of James' face.

James snapped out of it and looked around the hall, which was almost empty.

"Welcome back," Fred said sarcastically, "Come on, we're gonna be late."

James grabbed his bag and got up quickly, ignoring the stars erupting before his eyes from the head rush and followed his cousin to Potions quickly.

Undeniably, Potions was probably James' least favourite subject in Hogwarts. There were just too many ingredients and the timings had to be perfect and one stir too many could result in imminent death, injury or, at best, a foul smelling cauldron.

The Potions Master, Horace Slughorn (who was aging rather rapidly), showed very obvious favouritism towards James. After all, he was the son of Harry Potter and everybody knew how Slughorn favoured descendants of the well-known.

James, despite his hatred for the subject, never dreaded going to the lesson for that exact reason. He really couldn't do any wrong in Slughorn's eyes. That was always a bonus; being a teacher's obvious favourite.

"Running late, boys?" Slughorn asked, looking up as Fred walked in, followed by James.

"Sorry, Sir, it's my fault," James replied immediately.

"Don't fret, dear boy. Just you two take a seat with these lovely young ladies here and try not to be so tardy next time."

James looked hopefully over to the table; it wasn't occupied by Alyssa as he'd hoped, but by her best friends, Maya and Caroline. They weren't bad, though, so the two sat down without objection, Fred muttering something to them about he and James becoming accidental stalkers because they sat behind them in Muggle Studies and now with them in Potions - somehow earning a little laughter from them both, despite the fact that it wasn't really that funny.

Either way, it was enough laughter to attract the attention from Alyssa. James, upon catching her eye, looked away quickly and got out some parchment to begin taking notes. It didn't look like they were going to be doing any practical work today, what with the lack of set up cauldrons and the closed padlock on the store cupboard door.

The lesson turned out to be quite fun in the end. They engaged the Ravenclaw girls in light conversation when they were left to do work from the book, realising that Ravenclaws weren't completely boring and serious intellectual nerds like everybody assumed they were and that they were actually not at all unlike themselves – just with better grades.

That was probably the problem with never taking the time to get to know people from different houses. Everything James knew (or thought he knew) about them was completely based on assumptions and stereotypes. Except the Hufflepuffs, of course. A selection of the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students were known for hanging out with each other on occasion.

The reason behind their friendship was a good one. In James and Fred's third year, when they'd been members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team for a year, there was the well-anticipated Gryffindor vs. Slytherin final. The Slytherin Quidditch Team (and some of their housemates who wanted in on the plan) took it upon themselves to enter the Gryffindor changing rooms and destroy everything they had ready for the game. Everybody was enraged that the competitiveness went that far, but the Hufflepuff team decided to help out by lending the Gryffindors all of their Quidditch things (including their named gear, which was relatively confusing for the commentator of that game). And after that, they were all friends with each other.

Of course, not all of the Slytherins thought it was funny. Slytherin was divided that way, and probably would continue to be for years to come. Some of them had been furious that their Housemates had gone that far – the nicer ones. Sure, those ones – the ones desperate to prove that they were good people – still belonged in Slytherin, but were accepting of the other houses and much friendlier than their peers. That's where the split was.

The Ravenclaws had never been a problem. That was probably why James and Fred left that Potions lesson not at all unhappy about having been sat with them.

Maya Hills was the smartest girl in their year, shortly followed by Alyssa and Holly. She was nice, and easy to make conversation with. She sounded like a laugh, too, after Caroline told the boys a story about a very clever prank that Maya had pulled off involving some Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products (which was twice as funny for Fred, seeing as his dad owned the company). And the best thing about her was that she didn't rub her intelligence in anybody's face. She was so modest about her perfect grades that it was almost as though they didn't exist.

Caroline Seabrook was definitely not as smart as her Ravenclaw Housemates, but her logical side confirmed her as a Ravenclaw. She wasn't smart in a good-grades way; she was smart in a way that would get her out of difficult situations, which most people agreed was just as important. She was opinionated, but not so much that she couldn't accept other people's views and the four found that she and Fred had quite a lot in common.

They left the classroom together, continuing with the conversation they'd been having about their favourite subjects until they got to the Greenhouses for Herbology.

Once again, Alyssa was in the queue and James was almost one hundred per cent sure that she'd been looking at him until the moment he'd looked towards her.

* * *

**A/N - Thank you to everybody who's taken an interest in this fic since the last update, I appreciate all of you! Do me a favour and drop me a review please? -Ti**


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